General Hospital's Esme Is Very Easy To Redeem, But Fans Don't Want To See That
Some characters are better to stay evil.
Throughout the 60 years of General Hospital, the show has seen many great protagonists and antagonists come and go. Some have been more embraced by viewers than others, and some haunt fans' nightmares to this day.
But there are also characters who don't feel like they belong — ones that don't seem to fit their place on the show, or don't leave an impression at all. Whether it's bad acting or lazy writing, General Hospital fans are just upset that these characters are there to waste more screen time.
Esme Prince has unfortunately fallen into this category of characters that don't do anything for the audience. It's clear now that in order to make her more likable and avoid outrage, the writers will have to be more radical in what she does. And it's interesting what path the team could choose to take to redeem the character.
The most obvious way to fix Esme's story would be to create a redemption arc to put her in the company of other "good" guys. There are lots of ways to do this: from developing Esme through motherhood and eventually having her take care of her son, to a soapy love story with a criminal that would force her to make a choice.
The only problem with all of the above is that fans may not want to see it happen. What sounds great in theory could lead to another crisis for the character like the current one.
Although any fictional world would be boring if it wasn't for the constant battle of protagonists and antagonists, and Port Charles is no exception, General Hospital has always been better with its criminals. The soap strives to create the craziest moments for them, while others risk being stuck in a gray area of morality forever.
After all, it would be fair to say that Esme ended up as uninteresting to viewers as she is only because of her initial redemption arc.
Some characters are just meant to be cruel, nasty, and downright evil, and the writers' room needs to accept that before moving on and ruining more characters.
If you are interested in following Esme's story, tune in to ABC Monday through Friday to never miss another episode of General Hospital. The series is also available at ABC.com.